Idaho Whitetail unit 1 vs 6

[huntbow]

Anyone have experience with these units? Im thinking of hunting whitetail in one of these two units this year.

 I made a little pro-con list that has me confused.

Unit 1 - steep, thick, lots of forest land = lots of access and has a 50+% success rate.
Unit 6 - not as steep, lots of clearcuts, timber company land that is open for hunting and has a 39% success rate.

This is what is confusing, I have a hard time believing if u put 7000+ people in thick timber (unit1) that you would have half come out with a deer. Clearcuts and moderate terrain sound way better for hunting and for whitetail country yet it's only 39% (unit6). Maybe unit 1 has a lot of private land success.

Either way I have multiple areas I'm focusing on, a couple weeks ago my wife and I drove 7 hours over to Idaho and I spent an evening scouting one area I was looking at on maps and I found this guy.
Any ideas on the reasoning for the success rate variance?

[idaho guy]

 unit 6 is a lot bigger than I think you realize and much of it is not more open and moderate terrain than 1. A lot  of it is steeper and and thicker than 1. I am guessing(open and moderate terrain) the parts of 6 you have been looking at(probably on the computer) an they get pounded by the local road hunters. That's my explanation   

[buglebrush]

A really high percentage of whitetail killed in unit 1 are on private land.  I grew up in unit 1 if that helps.  I'd look further South than unit 1. 

[jackelope]

3 of us hunted unit 1 in November a few years ago and we went 0-3. It was tough hunting. Full disclosure. None of the 3 of us had ever set foot in the unit or hunted in Idaho at all for that matter so take it for what it’s worth.

[lewy]

Unit one can be tough for sure, never hunted six

[fishngamereaper]

Umm...no comment

[huntbow]

Thanks for your input, I still got a lot of research to do and I know it will be a rough go wherever I end up.

[Bigshooter]

I like unit 1.  It's thick and rough country but I've always seen enough deer to keep me happy.

[meatwhack]

Go kill the buck you took the picture of.

[Jimmy33]

Unit 1 is my favorite unit to hunt but it is heavy timber whitetail/ muley hunting at its finest. If you know how to hunt that way, you’ll be successful. If not, I would hunt farther south. Unit 1 is not everyone’s cup of tea but I love it. We tag out every year up there. Ive never hunted unit 6 before.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[huntbow]

Awesome, glad to hear someone has been successful in that unit. 

[MerriamMagician]

Check out the harvest stats on IDFG. Unit 1 kicks our more deer harvest than any other unit in the state, and its not even close. The only other unit that somewhat competes with overall harvest numbers is 10A. Last years stats show unit 6 produced about 1/4th of what unit 1 did. I've hunted unit 1 and 2 and had success in both. However I am trying further south this year for a new experience.

[meatwhack]

Unit 1 is also substantially larger than most of the other panhandle units.

[huntnnw]

that's really a toss up and boils down to specific spots you are hunting... you could hunt the exact type of terrain and vegetation in both units. Hunting whitetails is so much different than muleys where covering lots of ground and glassing huge country. Whitetails in these units you could spend a whole weekend hunting 300 yards from your truck a game of patience.